S. Vrevenas: "We cannot compare equal, club football and its level"

2024-08-02 08:15 © fcpanevezys.lt

"The Panevėžys football club lost with an aggregate score of 1:7 to the Białystok 'Jagiellonia' team in the second round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying matches, which will contest against Norway's strongest team from last season, Bodo 'Glimt,' next week.

The Panevėžys team will play in the third round of the Europa League qualifying matches, where they will face the Israeli champion Tel Aviv 'Maccabi,' who had to acknowledge the superiority of Bucharest's FCSB.

After losing 1:3 in Białystok, 'Panevėžys' strategist Stijn Vreven shared his thoughts about the match with the fk-panevezys.lt website, where Sivertas Gussias scored a consolation goal.

"First of all, I want to congratulate 'Jagiellonia' for their well-deserved victory in the second round of the Champions League qualifying matches. I can say the same thing I said after the first match; they deserved to win, and the score of 3:1 was also fair – they were the better team. A lot of quality with the ball. It was a tough match for us, but I cannot blame any player; they gave everything playing against a better team. The result is fair, but we have nothing to be ashamed of.

I wish the opponents good luck in the next round, and we will move on to the Europa League. The last match was a good experience for my players. We cannot compare leagues, country football, and its level. Experiencing such an atmosphere and playing in such a stadium is a great experience. It will be difficult – we are also playing an important match on Sunday in our league. Not in the same stadium and not in the same atmosphere. We have to be fair, and this will be more important matches than Wednesday's. On Sunday, I want to see the players as professionals who can win matches. We need to take the good things from the game with 'Jagiellonia' and learn from the bad ones. Hopefully, we will soon win our matches in the Lithuanian A League," said S. Vreven.

The first match against the Israeli champions will be played on August 6, Tuesday, in the Vilnius LFF Stadium. The return match will take place in Hungary on August 15.